OSHA investigation at TimkenSteel

OSHA investigation at TimkenSteel

CANTON

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland office has opened an investigation after a 32-year-old male worker was found dead in a control room at TimkenSteel’s Faircrest Plant in Canton on Sunday from suspected nitrogen exposure.

Subsequent readings by the company and fire department detected oxygen levels in the area where the employee was found were less than 4 percent.

OSHA’s initial investigation has determined nitrogen, which is used in the plant, was somehow released into the control room, causing an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

Average gas prices increase in Ohio

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s average price for regular gas going into the workweek has climbed more than 20 cents from the state average this time last month.

The price per gallon in Ohio was about $1.92 in Monday’s survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX Inc. That’s up 22 cents from the state average of about $1.70 a month ago, but less than Monday’s average national price of about $1.98.

Both state and national average prices Monday remained lower compared with a year ago. Ohioans were paying an average of about $2.35 this time last year, while the national average was about $2.42.

Gas prices have increased recently due in part to a decline in gasoline supplies, relatively strong demand and continued refinery maintenance.

Home sales decline

WASHINGTON

Americans retreated from home-buying in February, reversing months of prior gains as low inventories push up prices to levels that restrict sales.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of homes fell 7.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million. The decline follows robust yearly sales rates of 5.47 million in January and 5.45 million in December. A new regulation had delayed closings in November.

Marriott ups bid for Starwood to $14.4B

NEW YORK

Marriott won over Starwood with a sweetened bid worth more than $14.4 billion just days after a Chinese insurance company appeared to steal it away from the hotel chain with a more-lucrative offer.

The buyout, which still may be contested by China’s Anbang, would create the world’s biggest hotel company and give Marriott a stable of tony properties run by Starwood, such as the St. Regis New York.

Starwood, which owns Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis, over the weekend became the first U.S. hotel operator to gain access to Cuba, a day before the arrival of President Barack Obama. It is the first visit to Cuba by a sitting president in almost 90 years as relations between the two nations thaw.

Staff/wire reports